


Post-War Draco, aka The Astra-Story

by rsadelle



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-07-18
Updated: 2007-07-18
Packaged: 2017-10-28 15:17:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/309247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rsadelle/pseuds/rsadelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Someone, Snape maybe, introduced him to the girl. Astra. Dirty blond hair in twin braids down the sides of her face. She looked familiar for a moment, but then he realized it was only because she looked like her mother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Post-War Draco, aka The Astra-Story

**Author's Note:**

> I'm very sad to admit that I'm never going to finish this. This was my baby, my epic. I knew what was going to happen three years into the future of the story. I was experimenting with one, long, unbroken narrative. I last worked on it on June 15, 2005.

Someone, Snape maybe, introduced him to the girl. Astra. Dirty blond hair in twin braids down the sides of her face. She looked familiar for a moment, but then he realized it was only because she looked like her mother.

He'd known her mother, of course. She'd been one of his own mother's best friends. He shoved the connection away and looked down at the girl with as blank a face as he could manage.

The girl's eyes cleared, he saw it happen, and she very clearly said his name. "Draco." Draco caught the flash of startlement on the face of nearly every adult in the room before the girl reached out and took his hand in hers. She stepped to his side and turned so that they were facing the adults together.

"Well, Mr. Malfoy, you seem to have made a friend." Dumbledore beamed at him. "Why don't you show her around the school?"

Because I don't want to, he nearly said, but there was no one to keep him from getting in trouble now. He settled for a sullen, "Yes, sir," and pulled the girl out into the hall with him. Once out of the teachers' sight, he pulled his hand away, or tried to. Her grip was stronger than he thought. "Let go," he demanded.

The girl gripped his hand tighter, and he jerked at her hard enough to make her take a stumbling step toward him. She didn't let go. He scowled at her.

"Let go."

She met his eyes, and her eyes cleared again. It was unnerving to watch. "No," she said in a strange, clear voice that was as unnerving as her gaze.

"Fine." He tugged on her hand and took her down the stairs to the main entryway. "You've seen the Great Hall," he said, gesturing at the doors. He gestured at the various staircases. "They move around. You'll learn." Or not, he thought, glancing down at the girl's stillness and blank face, but kept that thought to himself.

"You'll want to learn the path to Slytherin house quickly." He tugged her hand to make her look up at him. "Pay attention so you won't get lost." He led her two flights down a staircase into a hallway. "This is the quickest way," he explained as he pulled a tapestry aside just enough to slip behind it. They went through a short, magically lit passageway and emerged in another hallway. He led her a few feet farther and pushed open an unmarked door. It led into the Slytherin common room.

"The tapestry only lets Slytherins in." He gave her a warning look. "The other houses don't know anything about it, so don't tell anyone about it." As if that were likely to happen, he thought.

"You'll need to know the other way too." He took her out through another door. He led her through the passageways that took them along an upwardly sloping path. He pointed out the tapestry when they passed it. They emerged in the entryway where they'd started.

"You can learn how to get to the classrooms later," he told her with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Let's go outside." With no agreement or disagreement from her, he took her through the doors out into the front courtyard. "Care of Magical Creatures is over there," he told her, pointing out the main space as they left the protection of the castle walls. "The greenhouses for Herbology." He pointed them out too. "The Forbidden Forest." He shot her a stern look. "Stay out of there. It's forbidden. There are dangerous things in there." They walked on in silence.

"And this is the Quidditch pitch." Draco gestured at the expanse of grass. "You have seen a Quidditch match, haven't you?"

She looked up at the goalposts. "Wind. Flying. Wind. Bludger. Wind, wind, wind. Snatch the snitch!" She turned her face toward him. "Mother played. Narcissa wouldn't. Mother did."

Draco stepped back as far as their clasped hands would let him. "Don't. Don't talk about her." He took another step back, and she took one forward to stay with him. He looked away from her gaze. "Do you know how to fly?" he asked her.

"Yes." Her answer was surprisingly clear and uncomplicated.

"Come on." He took her around the curve of the pitch to a shed he knew housed practice brooms. "I'm not taking you up on a broom with me."

She considered that and dropped his hand in favor of the broom he handed her.

Draco watched her closely as she mounted the broom. Only when she was safely hovering a few feet above the ground did he mount his own broom. He threw her a challenging look. "I'll race you to the other end."

"Three," she said, and they took off across the pitch. Much to Draco's surprise, she finished mere centimeters behind him.

"I guess you can fly," he admitted grudgingly.

With the smile on her face and her wind-reddened cheeks, Astra could have been any wizarding child. She jerked her broom up sharply and made a quick loop in the air. She was laughing when she came back to rest at Draco's side.

The sound of a bell came from the direction of the castle, and Draco turned them back toward the shed. "That's the bell for supper," he explained. They flew back across the pitch and Draco secured their brooms. Astra took his hand again once he closed the door of the shed. He looked down at their joined hands and decided it wasn't worth trying to get her to let go.

They entered the Great Hall together. They were a little late, and nearly everyone else was already seated. Draco tried to make Astra sit with the other first year Slytherins, but she stubbornly clung to his hand. He gave up and took her down the table to sit with him.

"New girlfriend?" Zambini asked.

Draco just shook his head, too weary to even protest. He settled Astra into the chair next to him and chose his meal from the plates on the table. He let the muted conversations of the half-full school wash over him while he surreptitiously watched Astra choose only a few small things and then only pick at those. Homesickness? he wondered. Or just another symptom of her oddity? She finished her meal, such as it was, well before anyone else at the table. When she was done, she crossed her hands primly on her lap. The gesture belonged to an octogenarian, not an eleven-year-old.

She took his hand again when he stood to leave the table. They took the shortcut back to the common room. "I want a book from my trunk," he told her. "You can't come to my room with me." She considered that and seemed to accept it as she released his hand.

Draco came back with his book and settled into one of the high-backed chairs facing the fire. Before he could open his book, Astra appeared carrying one of the large silver and green cushions from the corners of the room. She dropped it on the floor and settled down on it with her back resting against his chair.

Draco looked down at her neatly parted and braided hair. He looked over her shoulder to see the book on her lap. It wasn't anything he recognized. He opened his own book and set it on his lap. The book mostly provided him with an excuse not to talk to anyone as he stared into the fire and tried not to feel.

He didn't say goodnight when left the common room, but he could feel the force of her gaze following him out.

He felt that gaze often over the next few months. Summer was hard. They'd let the students come back to Hogwarts, but they hadn't given them anything to *do*, so they were left to entertain themselves. Draco went flying and pretended to read and spent more time in the library than anyone else around.

Astra often appeared at his side wherever he happened to be. She was so quiet and her appearances so sudden that if he didn't know better he would have thought she were Apparating. Draco often wondered just what was wrong with her, but he didn't know who to ask.

In the middle of August, Dumbledore made an announcement at breakfast one morning. "I hope you are all enjoying your summer," he began with that permanent smile of his after he'd gotten their silence. "As you know, the fall term will be starting in a few weeks. As an end of summer treat, a few of your professors have volunteered to organize a field trip for you. You will have the chance to visit Stonehenge with those who understand its true purpose." He beamed at the suddenly interested students. "You may sign up with your head of house." Dumbledore sat down and let them return to their meals.

"I want to go," Astra suddenly announced. She looked at Draco and said, "Take me with you."

Draco opened his mouth to say he hadn't decided to go, but realized that that was exactly what he wanted. A change of scenery. "I'll tell Snape," he said instead. Later, when Snape was in his office to take names, he added both his and Astra's to the list.

The next week, he received an owl at breakfast summoning him to Snape's office before tea. He spent the day half-watching Astra and wondering why Snape was summoning him.

"Come in," Snape called in answer to his knock. "Ah, Mr. Malfoy," he said when Draco came in. "Please, sit." Snape gestured at the chairs arranged in a half-circle in front of his desk.

There was only one chair left, and Draco sat at one end of the curve next to, of all people, Harry Potter. He recognized the other two as well, Ravenclaw's Keeper and one of Hufflepuff's Chasers.

"I will be one of the professors chaperoning the trip to Stonehenge," Snape told them gravely. "The four of you are all well-known and well-respected members of your houses." Snape steepled his fingers before him and gazed at them sternly. "You will assist me and the other professors in keeping order."

Bertram, the Ravenclaw Keeper asked, "Isn't that what the prefects are supposed to do?"

"This is not a simple excursion," Snape reminded them. "The prefects will be in attendance as well, but with the four of you as well, we should be able to keep everyone in line."

When there were no further questions, Snape handed out scrolls to each of them. "This is our schedule and a few reminders of what we will expect of you." He glared at each of them in turn. "I expect you to behave yourselves."

"Yes, sir," they answered.

Snape looked mildly pleased. "Dismissed," he said with a wave. "Mr. Malfoy," he said as they began to file out, "a moment, please."

Draco stopped and settled himself back into his chair. He ignored the curious glance Potter threw toward him on the way out. "Sir?" he asked, when the door closed behind the other three.

"Mr. Malfoy," Snape peered down at him. "You will need to pay extra attention to Miss Conroy." Draco wondered for a moment who Snape was talking about before he realized that he meant Astra. "Stonehenge is a place of great magic, old magic. We don't know how she will react to it."

Seeing his opportunity, Draco asked, "What's wrong with her?"

Snape met his eyes steadily. "We don't know. If she were a Muggle, they would call it autism. As it is, we don't know." He stared at a point over Draco's head for a moment. "Her parents--" Snape stopped. "Her parents," he said gently, "were more involved in their own lives than in hers. From what we can gather, she was raised mostly by the house elves." Snape scowled. "I don't think her family even remembered her until her letter arrived."

Draco nodded in understanding. "I'll keep my eye on her at Stonehenge."

"Yes, she does seem to respond to you." Snape pierced him with a look. "Did you know her before?"

Draco shook his head. "No. I knew her mother--" Draco had to fight to keep his voice steady-- "but I never met her."

Snape watched him. "Very well, Mr. Malfoy." He waved his hand. "Take your parchment and you may go."

"Thank you, sir." Draco took the scroll and carefully let himself out of Snape's office. He took a shortcut through an unused dungeon and returned to the common room just in time for tea.

Draco, by virtue of seniority and the sense of awe that seemed to surround him in the common room now, managed to get one of the tea trays for two. He took it with him to one of the sofas at the edge of the room. He put the tray on the low table in front of the sofa and poured for two. Astra arrived just as he dropped a sugar cube into his cup. She took half a pumpkin scone and nibbled on it as she settled onto the couch next to him. When she was done with her scone, she pulled her legs up under herself and pulled out the book she was travelling with. She sipped her tea as she read, and Draco refilled her cup when she finished it.

Draco unrolled the scroll Snape had given him and began to read. The first section of the scroll was an itinerary--train times, lodging details, name of their tour guide. Under that were the responsibilities Snape expected him to take on. And at the very bottom, there was an extra note: "Miss Conroy will need close supervision. Please take extra care on this trip to stay with her." Draco let the scroll fall to his lap. He reached out and brushed a small tendril of Astra's hair back behind her ear. She seemed not to notice, but he soon found her head against his shoulder.

He took her flying a few days later. They went out to the Quidditch pitch and raced back and forth until they were both laughing and winded. Draco then pulled close to her and they drifted slowly to the ground.

"Astra," Draco said, dropping onto a bench next to her. "Astra," he said again, and this time she met his eyes. "We're going to Stonehenge in a few days."

"Yes," she said. "The stones of power."

"Yes," he said. "Astra, you need to stay with me when we're there." He was relieved to see her eyes staying clear and focused. "Can you do that?"

She smiled at him as if he were the odd one. "Yes," she answered. She grinned at him and picked up her broom. "Across the pitch," she challenged, and Draco grinned back and laughed as they flew up into the air.

The train stopped for an exact forty minutes in London. The students stayed on the train while those who had not yet returned to Hogwarts but had chosen to visit Stonehenge boarded the train. Draco heard Potter greeting his Gryffindor friends, and he watched Gregory and Vincent take a compartment with Pansy and Millicent.

"Sorrow lasts," Astra commented, jerking Draco out of his contemplation of his schoolmates. He looked sharply at Astra, but relaxed when she continued reading. No one joined them, and they had the compartment to themselves the rest of the way to (???) where they were to spend the night.

They were staying in a mansion only a few kilometers from Stonehenge, close enough to walk if they chose. Draco sent Astra with Amelia, the Hufflepuff Chaser, to leave her things in her room. When Draco came down from his own room, Astra was in the middle of the entryway warily watching an older girl.

Draco came up behind Astra. "She doesn't like," he started to explain. He saw Granger's shoulders tense and knew she expected him to say "Gryffindors" or "Mudbloods". "Strangers," he finished. "This is Hermione Granger," he told Astra. "Granger, this is Astra Conroy."

"The moon howls," Astra said, and slipped her hand into his.

Granger looked startled. Serves her right, Draco thought snidely. Out loud, he said to Astra, "Snape said we could go exploring as long as we don't go very far."

"The garden," Astra said.

Draco nodded. "The garden, then." They swept past Granger and out the door. Astra pulled Draco down the steps and around the corner of the house into the gardens. They spent a few hours exploring the gardens before supper. Draco had to keep a close watch on her to keep her out of the belladonna patches.

Draco was aware of Granger's eyes on them all through dinner, and he tried not to wonder what she was thinking.

The professors let them divide themselves up into groups, and in the morning, Snape led one group down the path while McGonagall went with the other group in carriages. Draco and Astra, and Potter and his friends, went with Snape. Most of the other Slytherins went with McGonagall.

Draco and Astra walked silently. Potter and his friends chattered the whole way.

"Oh," Astra said in wonder when the stones of Stonehenge came into view. Draco was inclined to agree with her, and he squeezed her hand.

There was only one tour guide, with an amplifying spell, for all of them. Draco tried to listen while Astra slowly pulled him to the outside of the group. The first time she tried to move away from them altogether, he pulled her back. The second time, she succeeded in pulling him away enough that they were at the back of the group.

"Astra," he said sternly when she did it the third time, but she was not to be deterred. She was surprisingly strong, and she dragged him inexorably toward the center of the inner circle of stones. "Astra," he said again, but she kept walking.

"Power," she said, as they stopped in front of the altar stone. She reached out and touched the stone. "Old power."

Draco could feel *something* that itched along his skin. There were muted voices behind him, and he assumed the others had noticed their absence. He tried to pull Astra away from the stone, but she wouldn't budge.

Astra's voice cracked through the air. "Stop!" She jerked away from the stone and leaned heavily against Draco. "I want to leave," she said, her eyes clear and her voice shaking.

Draco staggered under the returning rush of sound. "Yes," he said, and cringed at the volume of his own voice. He looked for Professor Snape, and found him cutting his way through the students.

"Mr. Malfoy," he roared, "what is going on here?"

Astra huddled against Draco and he found himself turning to shield her from Snape. "I don't know," he admitted to Snape. He gestured at the altar stone. "She touched it and something happened." He touched Astra's hair lightly. "She wants to leave."

"That may be best," Snape snapped. He looked around at the gathered students. "Get back to the lecture," he ordered. "I suppose one of us will have to accompany you," he said grudgingly.

"I remember the way," Draco said.

"You can't go by yourselves," McGonagall said.

Draco met her eyes with a level gaze. "What's to harm us?"

"I think Mr. Malfoy is responsible enough to make sure they return safely," Snape said.

"Take one of the carriages," McGonagall suggested.

Draco could feel a small movement from Astra. "We would prefer to walk."

"Nonsense! You've had a shock. Take a carriage."

"We're fine," Draco said, and now that the shock of it was wearing off, he felt strangely energized. Astra did too, if her agitated fidgeting was anything to go by. "We'd like to walk."

"What's to harm them?" Snape asked.

McGongall was outraged. "We can't allow students to go wandering around the countryside unaccompanied!"

"They only have to follow the road. Mr. Malfoy is quite capable of that."

McGonagall sniffed. "Send a message spell when you get there."

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you, Professor Snape." Draco turned Astra out of the curve of his arm and let her drag him out of the central circle of stones. She slowed down a fraction when they cleared the first circle and returned to a normal walk once they made it out of the outer circle. Even Draco relaxed once they were back on the road.

"I think there are brooms in the house," Draco told Astra. He squeezed her hand. "We'll go flying when we get back."

She squeezed back and moved closer to him for the rest of the walk.

There were brooms, in a closet in one of the dormitory-style rooms. Draco sent a quick message spell back to the professors, and then he and Astra tried out brooms until they found two that would suit them. They took the brooms down the stairs and out onto the porch.

"I'll race you to the belladonna patch," Draco offered. He waited until they were both hovering over the porch before he gave the signal. As usual, she was only centimeters behind him.

They kept busy flying in and out of the gardens until the first group of students began to arrive, when they swooped back down to the porch.

"You seem to have suffered no ill effects from your experience this morning," McGonagall observed.

Astra stepped back and to the side so she was half-hiding behind Draco. McGonagall frowned, but forbore from comment.

"No, ma'am," Draco answered for both of them. He reached behind himself and took Astra's hand. "If you'll excuse us, Professor, we have to return the brooms."

"Of course." McGonagall moved out of their way, allowing them to cross the porch and go back into the house.

They raced up the stairs to put the brooms away, and raced back down for supper. A silence fell as they came, laughing, into the large dining room. Draco took a step back and stopped his laughter. Astra, reading his silence, stepped back with him and took his hand, becoming, again, the strange, solemn child he'd first met.

Slowly, conversation resumed, and Draco and Astra took places at one of the house's round tables. No one sat with them, and the seats on either side of them remained empty for the rest of their stay.

When the term started, the seats around them were filled, if for no other reason than because there were too many Slytherins to leave any chairs empty.

"We have a new program starting this year," Dumbledore told them all at the opening feast. "Sixth years will be paired with first years for one class a week. Assignments will be on your schedules on the morrow." He beamed at them. "Have a good year."

His announcement caused quite a stir.

"I don't want to be stuck with some baby first year," Millicent complained loudly.

"Draco's already got his," Pansy answered. Her eyes slid to Draco and then back to Millicent. "I hope he gets paired with her." She sniffed. "I wouldn't want to be *her* partner for the rest of the year."

As much as he tried not to react, Draco couldn't stop his shoulders from tensing. Astra carefully chose a pair of apple tarts from a tray and put one on Draco's plate while she nibbled around the edges of the other.

"Thank you," Draco said softly and bit into his own. Pansy sniffed and turned her attention to Vincent.

Astra and Draco were indeed paired together. Much to everyone's surprise, Thursday Potions was to be everyone's paired class. Gryffindors and Slytherins were in one class, and Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws in the other.

"Today," Snape announced in the first shared class, "you will be making a simple sleeping draught. I have explained the basics to the first years. Sixth years, you will be there to assist and remind, not to make the potions yourselves. When you are done with the first potion, the sixth years will make the more complex version with assistance from their first year partners." He surveyed the class. "Gryffindor is short one first year. Ms. Granger will be available to help those pairs who are completely incapable of making a potion." He clapped his hands. "Get to work!"

Astra laid a parchment out on the table between them. Instead of notes, she had drawn a series of lines that wove in and out. In some places, there were quick sketches recognizable as Snape, cauldrons, and other items from the Potions classroom.

Draco looked sideways at Astra, and decided she was better off if she started on her own. She seemed to be doing fine, as she carefully boiled water and measured out ingredients. Draco had his book open, and he waited in vain for her to make a mistake he could correct.

"You've drawn the potion!"

Draco turned to look at Granger. He hadn't even heard her approaching.

"Look," she said. "She has." She traced the lines on the parchment. "It's the recipe." Granger looked at Astra thoughtfully. "Have you done it all right?"

Astra carefully added the next two ingredients to the boiling cauldron and immediately dumped in three cups of cold water.

"She has," Draco answered. He smirked. "She's even better than you."

"We'll see about that." But Granger came back around several times to check their progress on both the simple and complex versions.

"Your notes are unconventional, Miss Conroy," Snape said when he came around to grade potions, "but your potion doesn't seem to have suffered." He tested Draco's potion. "Well done, Mr. Malfoy."

After another two weeks of shared potions, and of keeping an eye on how Astra studied, or didn't study--she seemed leery of Transformation, but loved Potions--Draco decided it was time to find some answers.

"What do you want?" Weasley demanded when Draco found Potter and his sidekicks on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

Draco ignored his words and spoke past him. "Granger, what's autism?" he asked.

Granger looked startled and then thoughtful. "No one really knows," she answered. "It's a diagnosis for a collection of symptoms, but no one knows what causes it or how to treat it." She eyed him curiously. "Is that what's wrong with Astra?"

Draco shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted.

Granger frowned. "Who told you she might be autistic?"

There was no real reason not to tell her, but old habits die hard. "It was just something I heard," he said evasively.

"It would explain things," Granger mused.

"Maybe," Draco said and turned back toward the castle. The Gryffindor goody-two-shoes didn't try to stop him.

Four days later, an owl arrived for him at breakfast. It dropped a small package on the table and flew away. Draco unrolled the scroll taped to it.

"The library doesn't have anything on autism. I asked my parents to send these." It was signed "Hermione Granger" in a simple, neat script.

Draco looked across the room at Granger watching him, and then down at Astra at his side. He tucked the neatly wrapped package in among his school books and poured more juice for himself and for Astra.

Granger found him in the library the next day as he was finishing the second book her parents had sent him. "Are they helping you understand Astra?" she asked, putting her books down on the table and taking the chair next to him.

"I don't know. Maybe." Draco gestured at the books. "They tell me what autism is, and what can be done for it, but I don't know how she was raised. I don't know if any of it's been tried." He slammed the book shut in frustration and ignored the glares from other students and Madam Pince.

"Can't you ask?"

It was such a stupid question that he only looked at her until she blushed.

"Her parents are dead. Her relatives forgot about her until her letter came. She was mostly raised by house elves."

Granger made a noncommittal noise. "You could try some of it anyway." She pulled one of the books toward her. "Her potions notes are unconventional, but very visual. You could try writing out the instructions and having her work from the drawings and the written instructions."

Draco frowned. "She likes to read, but only things she chooses." He shook his head. "She only reads some of her History of Magic lessons, and she hates Transformation."

Granger's thoughtful frown matched his own. "Well, we'll think of something." She smiled at him and glanced at the door where Weasel and Potter hadn't noticed them yet. "I've got to go, but I'll keep thinking about it." She grabbed her books and slipped away to join her friends.

She was wrong. Writing out Potions formulae for Astra wasn't going to help her. She didn't have a problem with writing, she just preferred drawing for Potions. And she had the best marks in her class, so why should he try to change that?

The only change he made was a more conscious effort to talk to Astra. If nothing else, it would help him remember how to talk. It wasn't something he did much of anymore.

Granger owled him a second missive the next week. "I asked around," she had written at the top. "Dobby knew where to find the Conroys' old house elves. I sent him with a spelled quill to find out about Astra." What followed was an account, obviously cleaned up, probably by the spelled quill, of how Astra's parents had abandoned and ignored her. She hadn't been the cute, responsive thing they'd wanted in a baby, and so they'd just turned her over to the house elves with orders not to let the child die. The house elves had fed her, and one of them made sure she had a tutor when she was old enough, but it was no wonder she was so strange.

"At least we have some answers," Granger had written at the bottom of the scroll. "No one took care of her the way children should be taken care of."

Answers indeed, and none of them helped.

"Mr. Malfoy, Ms. Granger," Snape called at the end of one of the shared Potions classes. "A moment of your time."

"Go on," Draco said to Astra. "Go have tea in the common room, and we'll go flying afterwards."

She obviously wasn't happy about it, but she went.

"Ms. Granger tells me that Miss Conroy's abilities are nothing short of remarkable," Snape began.

Draco shot an accusing look at Granger.

Snape raised his eyebrows and continued. "Her written work is also exemplary. Professor Flitwick is quite impressed with her ability to learn Charms. However, Professors McGonagall and Binns are quite concerned about her abilities." He looked from one of them to the other. "She does not pay proper attention to Professor McGonagall and only manages to complete half of Professor Binns' assignments. We would appreciate any suggestions you have."

"Astra only does what interests her," Draco told him frankly. "They'd have to make their lessons interesting to her."

"And how might they do that?" Snape asked archly.

"I don't know," Draco admitted.

"Relate it to her experience," Granger offered. "I'd guess she did a superb job on Professor Binns' assignment on pre-Roman magic in Britain."

"He did mention that as one of her better efforts."

Granger nodded. "She went to Stonehenge. She saw something from that time, and it made the assignment interesting to her."

Snape looked thoughtful. "We shall consider that." He nodded at them. "You may go."

It was with a sense of relief that Draco escaped the Potions lab. Granger's hand on his arm stopped him from retreating to the common room.

"What happened at Stonehenge?" she asked.

Draco stared at her coldly until she removed her hand. "I don't know."

She frowned. "But you were there."

"I don't know what happened." He started to step away. "I promised Astra we'd go flying this afternoon."

She continued to frown at him. "There was something--" She shook her head. "Never mind. I'll remember. Have fun." She took off in the opposite direction, leaving Draco free to fulfill his promise.

The unusually good weather lasted halfway into October, and Draco and Astra took advantage of it. They went flying along the edges of the Forbidden Forest. They took their books outside and studied on the grass. They took long walks around the lake. Draco included Astra in nearly everything he did. He asked her questions about her homework and told her about his. But what they enjoyed most were the days when no one was using the Quidditch pitch and they could take a Quaffle out and play, just the two of them.

It was on one such afternoon that the Quaffle dropped away from them and they went swooping down after it. Draco, laughing, had just scooped it up when he, then Astra, noticed the new arrivals.

"What do you want?" he challenged.

"We just came to play," Granger answered quickly. Then, "Can we play with you? The three of us against the two of you."

"Hermione," Weasel protested.

"They were here first," she pointed out. That was Granger for you, always fair.

"We can win," Potter said confidently. "He's not even playing Quidditch anymore," which was true, but probably not for the reasons Potter thought.

"And he should be used to defeat," Weasel said meanly.

"Ron!" Granger admonished.

Draco didn't deign to respond.

As they played, Draco found that Astra's uncanny ability to appear unnoticed at his side extended to an ability to be exactly where he needed her to be on the pitch. They traded goals, but even so, the Gryffindors were hard-pressed to keep up. They were tied when the supper bell called an end to their game.

"She'd make a good Chaser," Granger murmured to him on the way back to the castle proper.

Draco nodded and reached out to take Astra's hand. "She's good," he agreed.

"Hermione, come on!"

Granger smiled at Draco and Astra and ran to catch up with Potter and Weasel.

The weather cooled, and Quidditch season started with it. Draco and Astra went to the matches with the rest of the school and sat high in the back row. Instead of cheering with the other students, they watched the game intently, absorbing strategies and style. Granger joined them at one game when Potter and Weasel were stuck in detention, and she talked strategy with them and booed what she deemed to be bad calls.

Halloween dawned clear and cold. It fell on a Thursday, the day of their shared Potions class, and Snape's classroom was cold enough that they all huddled around their cauldrons, drawing as much warmth from them as they could. Snape was extra snappish, and Granger went from pair to pair, sharing everyone else's warmth.

Giant jack-o-lanterns and bats brushing the ceiling greeted them at supper. The Great Hall was warm, and Draco was more comfortable than he'd been all day. He stuffed himself and coaxed Astra into eating a second helping of dessert before Dumbledore brought out the entertainment. Somehow, he'd gotten a live band to play, and while no one had ever heard of them, they weren't half bad.

"Dance with me," Astra asked when they began a slow waltz. "Narcissa taught you, mother said."

Draco froze for a moment, and then, at Astra's incessant tugging on his hand, took her out into a clear space. Once they were halfway through the song, other students began to join them on the impromptu dance floor.

Astra grew slowly more restless.

Three dances later, she pulled away from him and stopped in the middle of the floor. "The gates open," she said, and reached her arms up. The sleeves of her robe fell away from her pale arms.

The chatter of the Hall quieted. Draco followed the other students' gazes up toward the ceiling. Directly above Astra's cupped hands was a, well, he didn't really know what it was. A large sphere, glowing golden. It blotted out the moon in the ceiling. It got larger as they watched.

Draco dropped his gaze to Astra. Her face shone with joy. She suddenly flung her hands outward, and the sphere shattered, throwing sparks down. For people about to be hit by some kind of glowing spark, the students and staff were remarkably calm.

One of the sparks descended on him, and it was wonderful. Power suffused through him.

Astra closed her hands together again and brought them down in front of her body. She turned to Draco. "Midnight is a silly time," she said clearly. She stood on her toes and pressed her lips to his in a cool, chaste kiss. "Good night," she said. "Happy Halloween." And she drifted out of the Hall.

"What was that?" Granger asked.

Draco touched his fingers to his lips. "I don't know." He met her eyes and found her looking as stunned as he felt. "What do you think?"

"I think maybe we don't really know anything about her." Granger smiled at him, a surprisingly uncomplicated expression. "Happy Halloween." And she, too, left the Hall. Nearly everyone, Draco noticed, had left. He watched a few more people drift away, singly and in small groups. He looked up at the unchanged ceiling for a long moment. Then he sighed and left. A quick scan of the common room showed him small groups sharing treats and laughing quietly. No one showed any interest in him, and he went through the common room and down the hall to his own room.

That Saturday was a Hogsmeade weekend. Draco went out with the other students and wandered through the town by himself. He stopped in at Melampus Cats. He was studying a cage of tumbling kittens when the bell over the door rang.

"Are you getting a cat?" Granger asked him.

"Astra's birthday is next week."

"Which one were you thinking of?"

Draco pointed. "There. The black one."

"A black cat? Isn't that a bit much?"

"Use every advantage."

Granger looked at him sharply. "Use her reputation to make people stay away from her. How very Slytherin."

"They'd destroy her if they weren't afraid of her."

Granger looked in at the cats. "Get the black one."

Draco glanced at her. "What happened to you?"

"Same thing that happened to you, I expect," she answered crisply. "War and death."

He sneered. "What do you know about death?"

"My grandmother died this summer. She had cancer. It was," a pause, "slow." Then, as if realizing she'd said too much, "How are you going to keep her from finding out about it before her birthday?"

Draco nodded at the frazzled looking man coaxing a nervous squirrel down from a shelf. "I can have him deliver it."

"She'll like it. And," she added speculatively, "it'll give her something outside of herself to focus on."

"Do you think that will help?"

Granger shrugged. "I don't know." She looked at the black kitten and smiled. "Pay for it and let's go to the Three Broomsticks for butterbeer."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Right. We'll just have a cozy chat in the middle of Hogsmeade."

Granger scowled at him. "Why not?" She waved impatiently at the kittens. "Come on."

Draco leaned toward disbelief, but he paid for the kitten and arranged to have it delivered.

"Did you get her anything else?"

"Not yet." Draco nodded up the street. "I haven't had a chance to go up to Honeydukes. I'll get her some candy before I go back." He pressed his lips together. "There isn't anyone else to get her any."

Granger took his arm, and they walked silently to the Three Broomsticks. "Find us a table," she suggested when they entered the inn. "I'll buy the butterbeer."

He found them a small table in a corner and waved Granger over when she turned away from the bar with two nearly overflowing tankards of butterbeer. When he wrapped his hands around his, he found that she'd gotten hot, not cold. A good choice for the first weekend of November.

"You're right," Granger said. "About the cat," she clarified. She grinned suddenly. "I can't wait to see what the Creeveys do when they see her with it."

Draco reluctantly smiled with her. "You don't like them."

Granger made a face. "Well, they *are* Gryffindors, but Harry has enough people fawning all over him. He doesn't need an in-house fan club too." Crisp again.

"Hermione!" Weasel shouted a greeting as he and Potter came toward the table. "We wondered where you were." He noticed Draco and scowled. "Malfoy," he spat. "What are you doing here?"

"Having a drink with me," Granger said, and Draco was surprised by the steely tone in her voice.

"Hermione," Weasel started, and Draco nearly winced at the whine.

"Don't make trouble," she said sharply. Then more gently, "You can join us if you want."

"No," Potter said. "We'll sit somewhere else."

The Weasel threw a hurt and confused look at Granger and obediently followed Potter to an empty table as far away as they could get.

Granger scowled. "They're such hypocrites. The goddamned war is over."

Draco took another gulp of his butterbeer and set down his tankard. "Let's go up to Honeydukes."

Granger let her own tankard thump onto the table. "Let's." She again hooked her arm through Draco's as they left the inn.

They spent the rest of the afternoon browsing together. They walked back to the castle arm in arm and ignored the curious looks and occasional comments from the other students.

When they were within sight of the castle walls, Astra came running out from the walls and threw herself against Draco.

"Astra!" Draco disentangled himself from Granger and wrapped his arms around Astra. "What happened?" he asked Snape, who followed Astra out from the castle.

"Sibyl happened," Snape snapped. "She came down from her tower for lunch and talked nonsense about Divination." He nodded down at Astra. "Miss Conroy is apparently quite susceptible to suggestion. She had a vision."

"Professor Trelawney?" Granger asked. "She never leaves the North Tower."

"She did today."

Draco stopped listening and stroked Astra's hair. "What did you see?" he asked gently.

"Death," she said, her answer muffled in his chest.

A chill rippled down his spine. "Whose death?"

"Narcissa's," she whispered, and it took every bit of Draco's will for him to keep from stepping away from her. "Father's. Mother's," she said and began to sob.

"Jesus," Granger said softly from somewhere near him. She touched his arm. "I'll make sure the house elves send some tea up to your common room when you come in," she said, and then she and Snape were moving away from them into the castle.

Draco let Astra cry herself out and then made an ineffectual attempt to wipe the tears from her cheeks. "Let's go in," he suggested. "Granger said she'd make sure there was tea for us."

Astra silently took his hand and let him take her back to the castle. Granger had kept her word and there was tea, and handkerchiefs, waiting for them in an empty corner of the common room.

Astra clung to him more than usual that week. Draco was careful not to get too far from her.

Her birthday fell on Thursday. Granger stopped to talk to them as they cleaned up their workstation.

"Happy birthday," she said, and handed Astra a small box.

Astra stared at her. "Thank you," she finally said, and carefully opened it. "Oh," she breathed when she saw what was in it. A small, gold crescent moon hung from a slender gold chain. She pulled it out of the box and handed it to Draco. She turned her back to him and he draped it around her neck and hooked the clasp together. She picked up the pendant and smiled brightly at Granger. "It's beautiful."

"You're welcome," Granger said.

Behind her, a large owl carrying a large basket came through the doorway. It hooted and landed on the table next to Draco. Draco dropped a few knutes into the pouch on its leg.

"Happy birthday," he said, and gave the basket to Astra.

She opened the basket, and the kitten pushed up out of it to nuzzle at her hand. "Oh," she said. And again, "Oh." She carefully picked up the kitten and held it against her chest. "Her name?" she asked.

"She doesn't have one yet," Draco told her. "You'll have to give her one."

Astra's mouth opened in a silent "O" as she cuddled the kitten.

Granger took a second box out of her bag. This one she opened herself and drew out a second golden crescent moon, this one on a black collar sized to fit a kitten.

"The moon's charmed," she explained as she clipped the collar around the kitten's neck. "When you name her, it'll appear on the moon."

Astra pressed her lips against the kitten's fur. "Lydia," she said, and scritched between Lydia's ears. She picked up the crescent moon dangling from Lydia's collar. "It worked!" She held it up for them to see the engraved letters.

"It did," Draco affirmed. He put one arm around her shoulder and picked up Lydia's basket. "I arranged for a special birthday tea in the common room." He glanced up at Granger. "Would you like to join us?"

"In the Slytherin common room?" she asked, clearly skeptical.

Draco grinned at her. "Why not?"

"You don't honestly think you can just take me into the Slytherin common room."

"We're all supposed to be friends now, aren't we?" He didn't quite sneer.

"Use every advantage," Granger said.

He smiled approvingly at her. "Now you've got it."

Astra looked up at him. "Can we go have tea now?"

"Yes," Draco answered. He looked at Granger. "Coming with us?"

She swept an arm out in invitation. "Lead the way."

Draco and Astra were the cause of only a few glances in the common room, those no doubt inspired by the presence of Lydia. But as they moved farther into the room, there were pockets of silence and whispers behind them.

"Draco." It was Pansy who finally spoke. "Why did you bring *that* into our common room."

"It's Astra's cat," he answered carelessly.

"I wasn't talking about the cat," she sneered.

Draco glanced back at where Granger was accepting tea from Lydia. "Hermione," he said, stressing the first name, "is a friend of ours. She came to celebrate Astra's birthday."

"She's a Gryffindor," Pansy pointed out. "And a Mudblood."

"She's our friend," Draco said again, firmly.

"She can't be here." Pansy argued.

"There's no rule that says she can't be." Draco put on his best smug look. "If you don't believe me, go ask Snape." He very deliberately turned his back on Pansy and took the cup of tea Astra held out to him. "Thank you," he said. He sipped it calmly while Astra carefully poured some milk into a saucer for Lydia. He gestured to the cake and to Hermione. "Would you like to do the honors?"

"Certainly." She took out her wand. "Incendio." The candles lit and burned away merrily. She and Draco sang "Happy Birthday" to Astra. "Make a wish," Hermione urged, and Astra's eyes closed for a moment before she blew out the candles.

Draco had no more than cut the cake than Snape's voice came at them from across the room.

"Mr. Malfoy. What is going on here?"

Draco half-turned in his chair to face Snape. "It's Astra's birthday, sir. We're celebrating." He gestured at the cake. "Would you like a piece?"

Snape looked over Draco at Hermione. "And Miss Granger. Are you celebrating as well?"

"Hermione gave me this," Astra supplied, showing Snape her necklace.

Snape was taken aback, but he managed to say, "It's very nice." To Draco, he said, "I would like a piece of cake," and he pulled up another chair.

There was an uneasy peace as the four of them shared the cake.

"I have scrolls to grade," Snape said when he finished his piece. He nodded at them. "Enjoy your tea."

When he was out of earshot, Hermione's lips quirked into a smile. "He does know how to be subtle."

Draco relaxed back into his chair. "Slytherins aren't always obvious." He returned her half-smile. "Astra, don't," he admonished. "That much sugar can't be good for the cat."

Hermione picked up the pitcher and poured more milk into the saucer. "Give her this. It's better for her."

"Doesn't she need food?"

Draco dug into the basket and came up with a book. "Here," he said, giving the book to Astra.

"Cat Care for Young Witches and Wizards," Astra read from the cover. She relaxed back into the corner of the couch with the book and absently petted the cat while she read.

Hermione's lips quirked into that amused smile again. She poured herself more tea and pulled her Arithmancy book out of her bag. Draco was left with no choice but to choose one of his schoolbooks and read. He found that studying in the common room with Astra, Hermione, and a ever-warm tea pot was the most relaxing experience he'd had since-- He decided not to finish that thought.

The bell ringing for supper time startled all three of them, and the cat as well. Draco and Astra made a stack of their books, knowing that no matter how little goodwill the other Slytherins had toward them, their things would not be disturbed. Hermione muttered a quick drying spell and rolled up the scroll she'd been working on. Astra insisted on bringing Lydia to supper with her, and neither Draco nor Hermione had the heart to say no.

Hermione turned suddenly in the doorway of the Great Hall. "Come sit with me," she suggested.

Astra continued following her across the Hall, and Draco gave a mental shrug and followed both girls to the Gryffindor table.

"Hermione," Weasel greeted her. "Where have you been all afternoon?" he asked before he noticed Draco and Astra behind them. When he did notice, he scowled and turned that shade of red that almost matched his hair. "What are *they* doing here?"

Hermione sat next to the Weasel and gestured Astra and Draco into the chairs across from them. "Having supper, just like the rest of us."

"They can't sit there," Potter fairly growled.

"Yes, they can," Hermione answered pleasantly. She poured juice for herself and Astra and passed the (jug? pitcher?) to Draco.

"They're Slytherins!" Draco idly wondered if the outrage would ever make the Weasel's head explode.

"They're my friends," Hermione said evenly.

"I'm not sitting with them," Potter proclaimed.

"You don't have to," Hermione told him. "But they're sitting with me."

Almost as one, Potter and Weasel took themselves to the other end of the table. The rest of the Gryffindors stayed as far away from Hermione and the Slytherins as possible. Astra seemed oblivious to the slight while Draco and Hermione carried on a friendly conversation. For someone who'd been snubbed by her two best friends, Hermione was surprisingly cheerful when she bid them good night after supper.

Saturday dawned clear and crisp, perfect for Quidditch. Astra and Draco, with Lydia curled up on Astra's lap, settled themselves into their usual back row. Despite Weasel and Potter's presence in the front row of the Gryffindor section, Hermione came to sit in the back row and talk strategy with Draco. She, of course, knew just the spell to keep Lydia warm when Astra worried that the cold would be too much for her.

"Don't Potter and Weasley mind that you sat with us?" Draco asked Hermione on the way back to the castle.

Her lips thinned into a sharp line. "They'll just have to live with it."

Astra and Draco left Hermione in the castle entryway and went down to their own common room to have tea and listen to the Slytherin recounting of the match.

They spent most of Sunday studying in the common room and they ate breakfast early on Monday, so it wasn't until after lunch that Draco saw Hermione again.

She began to frown halfway through Professor Bressel's Theory of Magic lecture. "The druids," he explained, "were extremely powerful wizards, but they were accepted in Muggle society. Druid rituals were actually spells designed to safely expend magical energy. Of course, Druids used magic in their everyday lives, but they had so much power that they had to use other spells to siphon off the energy. Most priests and priestesses from the ancient world were wizards."

Hermione's hand shot up.

"Yes, Miss Granger."

"What about wizards with that much power now. What do they do?"

Professor Bressel smiled at her indulgently. "There hasn't been anyone that powerful in generations. Why, even our own Mr. Potter doesn't have that much power."

"But what if there were?" Hermione insisted. "What would they have to do?"

"Well," Bressel allowed, "they would have to find a safe way to expend their energy."

Hermione still looked dissatisfied, but she allowed him to go on with his lecture.

Draco left Astra curled up with a book and Lydia on what had become their couch in the common room and went to the library after tea. He found the book he wanted and took it to an empty table where he could watch the rest of the room.

Hermione came in with Weasel and Potter, and they seemed to have resolved their problems. She left them at the table while she wandered around and gathered up an enormous stack of books. She broke the quiet of the library with an exclamation. Draco looked up just in time to see Madame Pince glare at her. Hermione gathered up two of her books and brought them over to Draco.

"Look at this." She opened one of the books and put it in front of him. "Here," and she pointed at a paragraph halfway down the page.

"My true sister," he read, "the Priestess, Raised her arms above her Head. And There we saw It. A Glowing Golden Ball. All Hallows Eve has long been a night of Great Power. This was Power beyond even what we had seen before. She Spread her Arms and the Orb burst into a Thousand Sparks which came down on the Party. The Sparks infused us with Power."

"Where did you find this?"

Hermione put her hand on the page she'd had him read and flipped to the cover. "Magical Oddities: First Hand Accounts," she read. "I found a reference to it in another book." She pulled it away and pushed another book, "Magical Places in Britain and Ireland," in front of him. "Now read this."

"It is thought," this passage began, "that the Priestess would stand at the center of the circle, on or next to the Altar Stone. The other witches and wizards participating in the ritual would link hands and wrap around her in a spiral, with the most powerful of them linked to the Priestess herself. We have a fragment from the writings of Vachel Sheely describing the effects.

"' . . . held as if in Terror. Silence came down upon us, and stillness too, until the Priestess' connection broke. Sound returned and with it Power.'

"An attempt to reconstruct this ritual using the most powerful witch known to the author was unsuccessful. We still do not know if Priestesses learned their roles or were born to them. We do not know if the power transfer was triggered by a spell or by mere touch."

"Is that what it was like when Astra touched the Altar Stone?" Hermione asked when he looked up from the page.

"Yes," he answered slowly. "You think she's a Priestess."

"You heard what Bressel said today. The Priestesses were very powerful witches."

"He also said there hadn't been anyone that powerful in generations," Draco pointed out. "Even Potter doesn't have that kind of power."

Hermione looked thoughtful. "I don't know that Harry ever had that much power. When he killed Voldemort it was like," she paused. "Like," she continued, "his glow dimmed." She shrugged. "I think maybe some of his power depended on Voldemort somehow."

Draco's eyes narrowed. "You're interested in Astra because of her power. How very Slytherin of you."

Hermione glared at him. "That's not it at all," she retorted hotly. "She's my friend now, and I want to know what's going on with her."

"And you think this is it."

"I don't know," she admitted. "It could be. I'll have to do some more research." She tapped the cover of the book. "This has some references I want to check. There are a couple in the Restricted Section that might be just what we're looking for."

Draco was skeptical. "How are you going to get books out of the Restricted Section?"

Hermione flashed him a grin. "McGonagall got tired of always writing me notes to do research. She talked to Dumbledore, and I have free access to the Restricted Section."

"Useful."

"Very," she agreed. She gave him a real smile. "Think about it." She patted his hand. "I'll let you know what I find out." She scooped up the books and went back to Weasel and Potter.

Over the next few days, Draco watched Astra while trying not to look like he was doing it. On Wednesday, he stopped Hermione on the way out of the Transformation classroom. "There's something strange about the cat," he said.

She fell back to talk to him. "What about it?"

"I don't know. It's just strange. Astra takes her everywhere, and she doesn't mind. Aren't cats supposed to be wild and independent?"

Hermione nodded. "I know what you mean." She looked thoughtful for a moment as they went down a flight of stairs. "I think--" she hesitated. "I think she's feeding it."

"Of course she's feeding it. It's her pet."

"No. I think she's feeding it magic. It makes sense," she said as they went into the Great Hall together. "In Muggle mythology, witches were supposed to have cats as familiars. Maybe that's true. The really powerful ones fed energy to their cats." She went with him towards the Slytherin table. "Bressel did say they needed a safe way to siphon off their energy." She sat across from him when they got to the table. "Hello, Astra."

Astra looked up and touched her fingers to her necklace in what served as a greeting.

"I'll see what I can find out," Hermione said to Draco, and she calmly passed a platter down the table.

Draco continued to worry at the problem. "If she's that powerful," he asked Hermione the next day on the way out of Potions, "why didn't--" The name stuck in his throat. "Why didn't *He* go after her?"

"If she's that powerful, why didn't Dumbledore and the other teachers notice? She probably learned to hide herself," Hermione reasoned.

Draco went down to breakfast before Astra on Friday and dropped into a chair across from Hermione. "Why isn't she any good at Transformation?"

Hermione passed the toast without being asked. "I don't know," she admitted. "I wonder--" She stopped and looked off into the distance. "I'd like to know what kinds of magic she did when she was younger. Maybe it'll help us figure it out. There's a book," she continued thoughtfully, "about magic without wands."

"There's a book for everything," Draco snapped.

Hermione looked surprised. "Mostly," she answered. "Don't be angry at me."

His irritation disappeared as if it had never been. "Sorry," he muttered.

Astra appeared at his side and swiped a piece of bacon off his plate. She ate most of it and fed the last bite to Lydia.

"It's okay," Hermione said, and to Astra, "Don't give her too much of that."

Astra seemed to ignore her, but she didn't feed Lydia any more bacon.

Hermione sought them out on Saturday and sent Astra to fetch tea while she talked to Draco. "Is she more normal after she does a spell?"

Draco shrugged. "Maybe." He frowned and tried to remember. "Do you really think she's Priestess powerful?"

"I was never entirely happy with autism as a diagnosis," she admitted. "She doesn't have problems with attachment." She waved her hand at him. "You, Lydia, her mother." Hermione shrugged. "She has power. It's at least possible."

"What happens to her?" Draco asked. "If she's a Priestess."

"She learns how to dispel some of her energy."

"They'll want to use her."

Hermione reached out and put a hand on his arm. "The war's over."

"It doesn't matter. They'll want her for something."

Hermione squeezed his wrist. "Dumbledore has a lot of power, and not just magical. He knows what being used did to Harry. He won't let anyone steal Astra's childhood."

Tears burned behind Draco's eyes. "It's already been stolen."

In a gesture of affection that nearly undid him, Hermione wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight. "They won't take what's left," she promised in a whisper.

She drew back when Astra arrived. She talked gently to Astra and helped her pour the tea. Draco was composed again when she turned back to hand him his cup of tea.

Draco and Astra spent most of Sunday on their couch in the common room. She read and he pretended to.

He sought out Hermione in the Gryffindor common room on Tuesday afternoon. "What do we do?" he asked.

She nodded and made space for him on the small couch, a love seat really, she was sitting on. "I think she has power," she told him plainly, and he was glad she didn't start with something more personal. "A lot of power. If she does, then we need to find, or create, a spell for her to use to dispel her energy, maybe share it. If we can do that, she'll be a little less odd." She shook her head. "I don't want to take away pieces of who she is, but she can't go on like this." Hermione met his eyes. "She needs to get out of her head and make some friends.

"But before we can do that, we need to find out if she really is that powerful. We'll need to test her." Hermione took a deep breath. "We can't do it. We need some of the teachers."

"No," Draco said reflexively.

"Yes," she insisted. "If she's that powerful, we'll need extremely strong wards around her just in case. I'm not that powerful and neither are you."

"And Potter's power was reflected."

"I won't let them hurt her," she promised.

You can't stop them, he almost said. Instead, he asked, "What do I need to do?"

"If you talk to Snape, I'll talk to McGonagall. We'll need both of them and Dumbledore. I'd like to do it next weekend if we can."

"I'll talk to Snape after Potions on Thursday," Draco agreed.

"It'll be okay," she assured him.

He wasn't so sure, but he kept his word and sent Astra to have tea with Hermione while he stayed behind to talk to Snape.

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy?" Snape asked when Draco was the last person left in the Potions classroom.

"Hermione," Draco started, and had to stop and start again. "Granger thinks she knows what's wrong with Astra."

Snape raised his eyebrows. "Does she?" He sat at a worktable and gestured Draco onto another bench. "And what does Miss Granger think?"

"She thinks Astra's powerful."

"Powerful?" Snape asked skeptically.

"Powerful enough that she would have been a Druid or a Priestess," Draco clarified. "She wants to test Astra, but she thinks we need teachers to set wards around her."

The ghost of a smile crossed Snape's lips. "The girl's learning." He looked down the long line of his nose at Draco. "You want me to help."

"Yes." He glanced off across the dungeon. "She's asking McGonagall."

"And we're to ask Albus."

"Yes." Draco looked up at Snape and tried not to look as if he were pleading. "I think Hermione's right."

Snape's hand briefly brushed against Draco's hair. "I'll talk to Albus."

"Thank you." Draco got up to leave.

"Draco." Snape's voice stopped him at the door.

"Yes, sir?"

"Being Head of House is not all deducting points. If there is anything you need, you may come to me."

Draco swallowed against the sudden rush of gratitude that threatened to choke him. "Thank you, sir."

Snape's "You're welcome" followed him out into the hallway.

On Friday morning, Draco and Hermione were called out of Herbology and into the Headmaster's office. Hermione graciously accepted a cup of tea while Draco tried to take in all the various oddities in Dumbledore's office.

"Well," Dumbledore said when they were all settled. "Severus and Minerva tell me you have been investigating the case of our own Miss Conroy." He beamed at them and silently offered them each a cookie. "Tell me," he said, looking straight at Draco, "do you truly think we should test Miss Conroy's abilities?"

"Yes." Draco glanced at Hermione. "I think she's right."

Dumbledore continued to smile at them. "Well, perhaps she is." He sipped his tea. "Tell me, Miss Granger, what had you learned this morning before I borrowed you from your class?"

"We weren't actually learning anything this morning," Hermione told him. "The Mandrakes need transplanting, and the second years didn't finish, so Professor Sprout had us doing it." She held out her cup and Draco poured her more tea. She threw him a quick smile. "Thank you," she said and sipped her tea.

Dumbledore set down his tea cup. "I believe," he said, "that it would be beneficial to test the extent of Miss Conroy's abilities." He nodded at them. "I think we shall try tomorrow morning at ten in Dungeon Seven." He stood and extended a hand first to Hermione and then to Draco. "Have a good day, children. I will see you in the morning."

"We need to talk to Astra," Hermione said once they had bid Dumbledore goodbye and left his office.

"I'll do it."

"I can--" she started to offer.

"I'll do it," he said again, firmly.

"Astra," he said at tea, "Hermione thinks you're powerful."

She stopped petting Lydia and started again when the cat butted her hand.

"She wants to test it. The teachers have agreed to supervise tomorrow morning." Draco stopped and really looked at Astra. She had shrunk back into a corner of the couch as he spoke. "We don't have to," he said gently. "If you don't want to, we won't. We'll go flying if it's nice or stay in by the fire if it's not."

"It's not safe," she said.

"No one will make you do anything you don't want to," Draco said soothingly. "We don't have to do this."

"You want to."

"Yes," he admitted. "I want to know if Hermione's right."

"Ruin," she said, and bent her head to rub her nose against Lydia.

"No," he said fiercely. "No. We're not going to let them do anything to you. Any of them."

"Tomorrow morning," she said. "I'll do it." She pushed Lydia to the floor and wrapped her arms around Draco.

Draco hugged her back. "I won't let anything happen to you." He pressed his lips to the top of her head and let her go. "Drink your tea."

They were both jittery enough to be up early on Saturday. Astra was picking at her toast when Hermione came down to the Great Hall with Potter and Weasley. She left them and came to join Draco and Astra.

"Good morning," she said, liberally helping herself to breakfast.

Draco nodded at her and Astra ducked her head.

Hermione paused in the midst of buttering her toast. "Are you okay?"

Astra's hand crept into Draco's.

"We're fine," Draco answered for them both. "Just a little nervous."

Hermione smiled at them. "There's nothing to be nervous about." She offered them the plate of scones. They both declined, and she gave a little unconcerned shrug.

Hermione ducked out of breakfast early with a cheery wave. Draco and Astra picked at their food and watched the rest of the school wander in, eat, and wander back out to whatever it was they did on Saturday mornings.

"I want Lydia," Astra said at nine-thirty.

"Right," Draco said. They went hand-in-hand down to the common room where they found Lydia curled up on a pillow. She went willingly into Astra's arms. Draco stood silently by her side while she calmed herself by petting the cat.

"It's time to go," Draco told her. Astra tensed and Lydia meowed plaintively. "You don't have to," he said. "If you don't want to, we won't go."

"I'll do it."

Draco stroked his hand over her hair. "Let's go." He took her hand and they went together to Dungeon Seven.

Hermione greeted them with a smile. "The Professors are going to do the warding."

Behind her, Draco could see a circle drawn on the floor. Snape, Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Bressel were ranged around it at evenly spaced intervals.

"Good morning, Miss Conroy," Dumbledore said in that jovial way he had. Astra clutched at Draco's hand.

"What do you want us to do?" Draco asked Hermione.

"You stay here with me." She gestured at a table piled high with books and an assortment of other things. "Astra, you need to be in the middle of the circle. Don't smudge the edge of it."

Astra looked up at Draco, who gave her an encouraging nod and squeezed her hand. She let go of him and carefully stepped over the line into the center of the circle. The teachers did something to activate the wards, and Draco saw Astra shiver.

Hermione nodded briskly and handed a match to Astra. Draco wasn't sure how that worked with the wards, but no one else seemed bothered by it.

"Now," Hermione said, and it was clear to Draco that she was going to be in charge of the whole process. "I want you to turn that into a needle. Don't worry about what you learned in class. Just make it change."

Astra nodded at her. She closed her eyes briefly, and the match in her hand became a needle so quickly Draco barely saw the change. McGonagall drew in a sharp breath and Hermione looked interested.

"Can you turn it back?"

Astra's eyes closed and the needle again became a match. Hermione reached through and took the match back. She switched the match for an empty matchbox.

"Let's try something a bit more difficult. Change that into a mouse."

The transformation was slower this time, but just enough that Draco could watch it happen. When it was done, Astra cradled a small brown mouse against her chest. Lydia twined around her ankles and meowed.

Astra bent down and showed the mouse to the cat. "No," she said when Lydia nosed at the mouse.

"Turn it back," Hermione said.

Lydia lost interest when the mouse became a matchbox, and Astra stood again to return the box to Hermione.

"Wait," Hermione told her. "Can you levitate it?"

Astra nodded and the box floated above her hand. She glanced over at the intense watchfulness Hermione wasn't even bothering to hide and the amazement Draco couldn't hide. The box twisted in lazy circles in the air, and then she touched it with her other hand and sent it spinning out in circles, first around her, then down to tease Lydia, and finally out around the inside edges of the wards. She flashed Draco a grin so quick he wasn't sure he'd even seen it.

"Very good," Hermione said, sounding a little awed. "Can you send it back to me?" The matchbox shot across the circle, neatly going around Astra, and hovered where Hermione could reach out and neatly pluck it from the air.

Hermione next handed in a small, glass bowl of water. "Freeze the water."

Astra cradled the bowl in her hands. Draco could see the water turn to ice. Instead of cracking the glass, the ice rose above the rim of the bowl.

"Good," Hermione said. "Now make it boil."

The ice melted back down into the bowl into it was only water, and then the water began to bubble and a cloud of steam rose from its surface.

"Don't your hands hurt?" Draco asked.

Astra flashed him another lightning-quick smile. "No."

"All right," Hermione said. "Give the bowl back to me."

Astra cooled the water--Draco could see it stop bubbling--before handing it through the barrier of the wards to Hermione.

"Very good, Miss Conroy," Dumbledore said. "Now," he said, "if Miss Granger doesn't mind--" Hermione nodded her head "--let's try something else." He gestured at the room. "There is power stored in the very stones of Hogwarts. Draw it out, and then return it."

Astra concentrated for a moment, then shook her head. "No. I can't."

Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment, then asked, "Can we put Draco inside the wards?"

Draco started and Dumbledore gave her an uncharacteristically sharp look. "Certainly," the headmaster answered. He brushed away a piece of the wards with a gesture, and Draco stepped over the edges of the circle to stand with Astra. She took his hand, and Lydia wound around his ankles. From inside, Draco could faintly feel the wards being re-established.

"Now try it," Hermione suggested.

Power flooded into Draco from Astra. It was like at Stonehenge, or Halloween, but he could feel her controlling it this time. She pulled the power back, leaving him with only a drop of what she'd given him.

"Incredible," Bressel murmured.

"True sister," Hermione said. "I thought it was talking about blood, but it's something else completely. An anchor," she mused. "To sort of ground the priestess?" She glanced at the teachers for confirmation.

Bressel nodded slowly. "Yes," he said. "You could be right."

Hermione was pleased with the praise. Astra bent down and picked up Lydia. The cat butted against her chin and extended her affections to Draco when he reached out to her.

Dumbledore did something to the wards and the teachers stepped away to consult in hushed tones. Draco tried to listen, but they'd done something to keep him from being able to hear them.

Dumbledore stepped away from the group. "Unless Miss Granger would like to conduct any further tests of Miss Conroy's abilities, I believe we will conclude this meeting."

Hermione glanced at Astra and Draco before agreeing. Dumbledore dispelled the wards and beamed at them genially.

"Enjoy your afternoon, children. We'll take this up again another time."

Draco and Astra helped Hermione gather up her things while the teachers did whatever else it was they needed to do. Hermione glanced at the teachers and closed the door behind the three of them.

"Let's go flying," Astra suggested. She paused to scoop Lydia up for faster travel.

"There's Quidditch practice on the Pitch," Hermione advised her.

Astra shrugged. "There are other places to fly."

Draco wondered if Hermione were really too distracted by the results of her experiments to notice the absolute banality of the conversation.

"I have some reading I want to do." She certainly seemed distracted. "There's a book in the library I want to look at." She took the books Draco was carrying from him and added them to her stack. "I'll see you at dinner."

Draco and Astra were left in the hallway while she went toward the nearest set of stairs.

"Let's go flying, then," Draco said.

"We'll leave Lydia in the castle, and you have to fetch your broom." Astra led the way back to the environs of Slytherin House. Draco left her in the common room while he went to his room for his broom.

When he returned, she smiled at him and settled Lydia onto their couch.

They fetched a school broom for Astra and considered their options. The Quidditch Pitch was, as Hermione had said, in use. The Forbidden Forest was, of course, forbidden. There were grassy areas outside, but none of them were quite as good as the Quidditch Pitch for flying. There was the lake; it wasn't expressly forbidden but it was considered a bad idea.

Astra looked speculatively at the castle walls. "Let's go around the castle."

Draco glanced up at the walls himself. "All right." He grinned at her. "Race you to the corner!" He beat her, but only because he had a head start. They raced from corner to corner until they'd gone all the way around twice, and then they took a desultory third turn.

Astra hurried them in for lunch, and they were nearly the first people there. Astra fidgeted until lunch was served, and then she ate more than Draco had ever seen her eat in a whole day. Hermione did not appear for lunch.

They went back to the common room after lunch. Astra invited Lydia up onto her lap and became absorbed in a book. Draco did his usual trick of pretending to read while staring into the fire.

Hermione was back at dinner, but she sat at the Gryffindor table with a stack of books.

The week dragged on for Draco. He and Astra had several sensible conversations about her classwork, and she asked to go flying every day. He felt both guilty and relieved when Saturday came around again and she seemed content to sit in the common room with Lydia on her lap.

Hermione came, at Astra's invitation, to an early tea on Sunday, but she was obviously preoccupied and she excused herself far too early for Astra's taste. She was grumpy for the rest of the afternoon. Draco, sunk in his own musings before the fire, wouldn't have noticed if it weren't for Pansy.

"Draco," she snapped from across the room, startling him, "Could you please make your little pet," a sneer, "behave."

Draco stared at her blankly.

Pansy held up a scroll covered in ink obscuring anything Pansy may have written. "She's ruined my Potions homework."

Now that he was paying attention to the rest of the room, Draco noticed the glares.

"She spilled our tea," said Claire Silver, an imperious fourth year who was, indeed, spelling tea back into its cups and pot.

"And she's made the lights flicker twice and she's kept half the house out," Pansy informed him. "This is the Common Room, not your personal play room."

Draco looked down at Astra. Now that Pansy mentioned it, it had seemed quiet today.

"I'll take care of it," he told Pansy.

She glared at him, but she went back to salvaging her Potions homework. She wouldn't truly challenge him. He was still a Malfoy, despite his parents' disgraces.

"Come on," he said to Astra. "We'll go flying before supper."

They left Lydia in the dungeons and went out to the Quidditch pitch. Potter and Weasley had beat them to it. Draco looked down at Astra and then squinted up at Potter and Weasley.

"All right," he muttered. "Potter," he called up at them.

"What do you want?" Weasley asked rudely when they'd floated to the ground with their Quaffle.

Draco was very nearly rude in return, but he had to do something with Astra.

"May we join you?" If he couldn't be rude to Weasley, he could at least outclass him.

Weasley eyed them suspiciously. So did Potter, but he, at least, said, "All right."

Draco and Astra were winning when the Weasley girl arrived. She stopped the game with a piercing whistle, a talent Draco thought must be the result of living in a large, loud family.

When they'd all gathered to hover around her in midair, she re-divided the teams. "Harry, you're with Malfoy." She gestured to Astra. "You'll be with us."

Draco worried about the two of them being split up, but Astra was already staking out her airspace so he went along with it.

Playing with Potter was different. For starters, Potter thought like a Seeker while Astra thought like a Chaser. That meant he was always looking for something and not paying enough attention to where everyone else was on the pitch. On the other hand, Potter had been the recipient of formal coaching and was a little more used to fitting himself into an unfamiliar team than Astra.

All in all, they were pretty evenly matched, which reflected well on either the Weasley girl's luck or her potential as a coach.

Draco and Potter were up by one goal when Granger arrived and put a stop to their game.

"You've missed supper," she half-scolded. "The house-elves are bringing something to the common room for us." Her general herding included Draco and Astra and they found themselves comfortably ensconced in a makeshift circle of deep red armchairs and couches around a low table with several overfull trays that constituted the "something" Granger had gotten the house-elves to feed them. Granger set a spell on the table to let the top of it spin so they didn't have to pass anything across.

In the time it took for them to pile their plates high with food, Lydia found her way through the castle and into the Gryffindor common room to curl up on the couch next to Astra. Granger produced a bowl of water and a bowl of cat food from somewhere without ever losing track of the conversation.

Gryffindor's furniture was comfortable, and the Gryffindors themselves seemed inclined to simply let him be. He was half-asleep when the supper dissolved into games. Potter and Weasel set up a chess board and the Weasley girl produced an Exploding Snap deck. When Draco waved off her invitation to play, Granger also refused. She took Astra's place on the couch while Astra and the Weasley girl settled onto the floor for their Exploding Snap game.

"Did they behave themselves playing Quidditch?" Granger asked.

"Yes." One of the cards exploded and Lydia jumped up onto Draco's lap. Draco petted her absently. "I took Astra out to fly because she was keeping people out of the common room."

Granger frowned. "How?"

"I don't know. I didn't even know she was doing it until Pansy said something. She also spilled someone else's tea, made the lights flicker, and ruined Pansy's Potions homework."

Hermione frowned and watched Astra play for a little while. "Why'd she do that?"

Draco turned to fully face her. "I think," he said, with less heat than he'd expected, "she's angry that you haven't been around."

Granger actually seemed surprised. "I'm trying to help her."

"Books aren't everything." Draco gently set Lydia on the floor and sat down to let the Weasley girl deal him in to the next round. He felt Granger's eyes on him for a while until she went to sit on the arm of Weasley's chair and distract him enough to give Potter a chance of winning.

After another two games of Exploding Snap, Draco had Astra say her goodbyes and they took Lydia and went back down to the dungeons.

Hermione ate breakfast with them in the morning, and she didn't have a book with her. Astra seemed to have calmed down, and Draco stopped watching her so closely.

The end result of an evening spent in Gryffindor's common room was that Draco and Astra started playing friendly Quidditch matches with Potter and his friends. The Gryffindors weren't particularly gracious about it, but they didn't turn Draco and Astra away either. Even Hermione was persuaded to join Astra and the Weasley girl in a boys against girls match that lasted most of a Saturday.

"I've been talking with Professor Dumbledore," Hermione said over tea one afternoon.

Draco reflexively put his arm around Astra. "Have you?"

"Yes, I have." Hermione set her tea down. "He thinks perhaps we can disperse Astra's energy into Hogwarts itself. Fully supervised, of course."

  
**The Rest of the Story**

Sometime later, Draco gets legal custody of Astra. Hermione becomes a teacher, marries Ron, and gets pregnant. She and Ron ask Draco and Harry to be their child's godparents. Draco goes to Harry's place (where he meets Harry's partner Tom and says, with a raised eyebrow, "No wonder Granger's so vehement about rights for unmarried partners.") and proposes that they put money in an account for the baby, since Ron and Hermione will never accept it outright. The baby's name is Flora.

After a while, Hermione starts to go stir-crazy. Draco goes back to Harry's place ("Harry's not here." "I know. I came to talk business.") and he and Tom, who's independently wealthy himself, endow and become the first trustees of a Wizarding University.

Draco eventually decides he has to clean out his father's study, which has been locked up since his father's death. He comes out from sorting through it, and finds Snape waiting for him. "I've had a monitoring spell on it." Snape is, of course, there to provide support and comfort, in a Snapish sort of way.

During her research, Hermione finds an old Malfoy diary, which she takes to Draco. The diary reveals that the Malfoys and the Weasleys are related (this was obviously conceived of long, long ago). My notes say "H approves of anger," but I'm not sure whose anger at whom she was approving of. Draco takes the diary to the Weasleys.

That's where my notes end, and I don't think I really knew where it was going after that.


End file.
